Expressive Arts

...this is an insider's guide to creating talks that are unforgettable.

Since taking over TED in the early 2000s, Chris Anderson has shown how carefully crafted short talks can be the key to unlocking empathy, stirring excitement, spreading knowledge, and promoting a shared dream. Done right, a talk can electrify a room and transform an audience's worldview. Done right, a talk is more powerful than anything in written form. This book explains how the miracle of powerful public speaking is achieved, and equips you to give it your best shot. There is no set formula; no two talks should be the same. The goal is for you to give the talk that only you can give. But don't be intimidated. You may find it more natural than you think. Chris Anderson has worked behind the scenes with all the TED speakers who have inspired us the most, and here he shares insights from such favorites as Sir Ken Robinson, Amy Cuddy, Bill Gates, Elizabeth Gilbert, Salman Khan, Dan Gilbert, Mary Roach, Matt Ridley, and dozens more -- everything from how to craft your talk's content to how you can be most effective on stage. This is the 21st-century's new manual for truly effective communication and it is a must-read for anyone who is ready to create impact with their ideas.

Four essays on the psychological aspects of art. A study of Leonardo treats the work of art, and art itself, not as ends in themselves, but rather as instruments of the artist's inner situation. Two other essays discuss the relation of art to its epoch and specifically the relation of modern art to our own time. An essay on Chagall views this artist in the context of the problems explored in the other studies.

Linda Schierse Leonard, renowned Jungian analyst, teacher, and best-selling author, demonstrates the many parallels among the cycles, moods, and landscapes of nature and the phases of the creative process—parallels that can foster inspiration, renewal, and hope. Many artists face profound challenges in the course of their creative work, and many more people do not think of themselves as creative at all, though their everyday discoveries, work, and personal lives can be deeply creative acts. Leonard shows how nature and creativity are healing and even necessary tools, and how we can use our energies to move through dark times so we can be ready to receive and actualize creativity. By understanding how to cultivate our "inner helpers"—characters and archetypal patterns that rise up within us as we go about imagining a better life—we can appreciate and develop creativity in all our endeavors.

Annie Sullivan and Helen Keller, their lives are the stuff of myth and legend. In the spring of 1887, the 20 year old Annie did the impossible, she was able free this young old "phantom" from the dark and silent prison that Helen had been sentenced to since she was 20 months old. It took just Annie 32 days to accomplish this miracle. The Miracle Worker, William Gibson's stage and screen love letter to the teaching profession, immortalized their story, which culminated in the iconic moment at the pump, where consciousness was created. This classic film is perfect canvas on which to explore the archetypal field of transformation. The Miracle Worker brilliantly shows us the different archetypal landscapes that Annie and Helen traversed on their journey to consciousness. These heroines have gone before us, and we can learn from their story. Annie Sullivan and the Creation of Consciousness allows us to join them on their quest. By watching this eternally returning universal pattern play out in the brilliant, award winning performances of Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke, we can better learn to navigate change in our own lives. "Consciousness" means knowing with, their story is a map for this amazing journey. By looking more deeply at change, we can transform our lives. Annie can teach us, too. Annie and the Creation of Consciousness helps us to understand the archetypal process of transformation, so that we can apply this knowledge in our own lives. Instead of being at the mercy of the winds of change, we can harness their power and help ourselves and those we care about to lead more effective lives.

Legendary psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's famous investigations of "optimal experience" have revealed that what makes an experience genuinely satisfying is a state of consciousness called flow. During flow, people typically experience deep enjoyment, creativity, and a total involvement with life. In this new edition of his groundbreaking classic work, Csikszentmihalyi ("the leading researcher into 'flow states'" --Newsweek) demonstrates the ways this positive state can be controlled, not just left to chance. Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience teaches how, by ordering the information that enters our consciousness, we can discover true happiness, unlock our potential, and greatly improve the quality of our lives.

"Explores a happy state of mind called flow, the feeling of complete engagement in a creative or playful activity." --Time

All the creative art psychotherapies (art, dance, music, drama, poetry) can trace their roots to C. G. Jung's early work on active imagination. Joan Chodorow here offers a collection of Jung's writings on active imagination, gathered together for the first time. Jung developed this concept between the years 1913 and 1916, following his break with Freud. During this time, he was disoriented and experienced intense inner turmoil --he suffered from lethargy and fears, and his moods threatened to overwhelm him. Jung searched for a method to heal himself from within, and finally decided to engage with the impulses and images of his unconscious. It was through the rediscovery of the symbolic play of his childhood that Jung was able to reconnect with his creative spirit. In a 1925 seminar and again in his memoirs, he tells the remarkable story of his experiments during this time that led to his self-healing. Jung learned to develop an ongoing relationship with his lively creative spirit through the power of imagination and fantasies. He termed this therapeutic method "active imagination."

This method is based on the natural healing function of the imagination, and its many expressions. Chodorow clearly presents the texts, and sets them in the proper context. She also interweaves her discussion of Jung's writings and ideas with contributions from Jungian authors and artists.

Psyche and the Arts challenges existing ideas about the relationship between Jung and art, and offers exciting new dimensions to key issues such as the role of image in popular culture, and the division of psyche and matter in art form.

Divided into three sections - Getting into Art, Challenging the Critical Space and Interpreting Art in the World - the text shows how Jungian ideas can work with the arts to illuminate both psychological theory and aesthetic response. Psyche and the Arts offers new critical visions of literature, film, music, architecture and painting, as something alive in the experience of creators and audiences challenging previous Jungian criticism. This approach demonstrates Jung’s own belief that art is a healing response to collective cultural norms.

This diverse yet focused collection from international contributors invites the reader to seek personal and cultural value in the arts, and will be essential reading for Jungian analysts, trainees and those more generally interested in the arts.